Day 73 of Banishment: Iron Sand Collection (3)
73rd day of banishment.
To collect iron sand, Marylia headed to the usual river.
"Alright, this spot should work."
Marylia immediately inspected the riverbed… When she scooped up some sand to check, indeed, black, glimmering iron sand was mixed within.
“Well then, let’s get started.”
Marylia smiled cheerfully… and promptly began setting up a chute on the riverbank!
Setting up the chute was quite simple. She arranged three bundled pieces of wood as a tripod and paired them in sets of two. Then, by placing the chute over them, she created a path for water to flow through.
“In the East, they let noodles flow down something like this… hehe.”
Remembering the Eastern tradition of “flowing noodles” she read about in a book, Marylia chuckled as she imagined trying to float noodles down her chute. "Hmm, can’t quite picture it!”
Once the chute was set up, the next step was simply to let the iron sand-laden sand flow down with the water. The water would handle the rest.
“Alright, here we go~”
Marylia gently poured sand and water, which she’d collected in an earthenware pot, from the top of the chute.
… And then—
“... Well, it’s somewhat working, I’d say…”
Iron sand got caught in the chute’s grooves, though some regular sand remained as well.
Meanwhile, the more finely crushed iron sand flowed away… It was trickier than expected.
“Hmm… maybe it’d be better to separate it based on sedimentation speed instead of using the chute…”
Contemplating her options, Marylia decided to keep trying for now. She set her golems to work, sending a steady stream of sand and water mixed with iron sand down the chute.
And so—
“Hmm… I’m not collecting much, am I?”
After a few hours of collecting iron sand, with the sun high overhead… Marylia had finally managed to gather about a handful of iron sand. However, regular sand was still mixed in!
“Maybe I need to scale this up…”
There was a way to reduce impurities: she could use a greater volume of sand and water to eliminate everything except the heaviest, purest layer.
But there wasn’t nearly enough sand and water here for that. Unless she could start by crushing rocks that seemed to contain iron sand, she’d have no way to eliminate large amounts of impurities along with the iron sand.
“Well, for now, I’ll continue working with this purity level and focus on increasing the amount of iron sand. Better to do it than not.”
Repeating the chute process should help raise purity further. Determined not to give up, Marylia continued her work.
After returning to camp for lunch, she went back to the riverbank upstream to resume collecting iron sand.
… One thing was for sure: “Glad I made so much pottery!”
After all, every task—from transporting water and sand to storing the collected iron sand—was done with pottery. With all her golems constantly transporting either water, sand, or iron sand, she needed a considerable amount of pottery… and she had just enough!
As a result, her work efficiency was maximized. Combining Marylia’s ability to command numerous golems, this setup was surprisingly effective at increasing the purity of the iron sand. Marylia’s foresight in crafting large quantities of pottery was shining brightly. Such was the state of affairs!
Then, something exciting happened.
“Oh.”
Walking along the riverbank, Marylia examined the stones, thinking, “These must be the rocks that broke apart upstream…” and suddenly noticed a peculiar stone.
The stone was about the size of her thumb… and had a faint green hue.
“This is… Oh my!”
Marylia immediately picked it up and held it to the sunlight.
… Its surface was scratched and cloudy, but with proper polishing, it would likely display a beautiful green color. The light shining through the stone… was a lovely jade hue!
“It’s a jade!”
Indeed, Marylia had found jade! And a beautifully colored one at that!
"My, my… does this mean if I search this riverbank and upstream, I might find more jade?"
Feeling a bit excited, Marylia decided to search through the stones on the riverbank to look for more jade.
… And there was a simple reason for this.
"Jade can be used for forging iron…”
Jade is a particularly hard and durable stone!
Most stones, by nature, are prone to breaking. They’re weak when force is applied from certain directions, and many will shatter or flake off. This can be useful, as easily split stones can be shaped into tiles or, if they cleave well, can be fashioned into blades like obsidian knives, spearheads, or arrowheads.
However… there are some stones that are resistant to breaking entirely. Their crystalline structures are dense and intricate, and they possess remarkable toughness. Among these is… jade.
Jade is a beautiful stone. It can appear in shades of white, green, pale purple, or even sky blue, and when polished, it becomes a gemstone. Back at the Odeil family estate, Marylia kept only the bare minimum of jewelry, but she recalled some of her friends wearing jade necklaces or hairpieces.
Additionally, since jade doesn’t shatter easily, it’s suitable for intricate carvings. In Fractalia, one of the honors awarded was a beautiful flower-shaped carving made from jade.
“Hehe… If I could find jade that could be made into a hammer, that would be amazing… but I wonder if I will?”
Marylia cheerfully set out, humming, as she began her jade search.
… Even if she obtained iron, it would be useless without a way to shape it. With no iron hammer to start with, she’d have to make do with stone. And when it comes to hammering hot iron… jade, which doesn’t easily crack under heat or impact, would be ideal!
"... Well, let’s take our time and look.”
Marylia began her search along the riverbank stones with enjoyment. For the Terracotta Golems, this type of search was a bit challenging, so Marylia resolved to do it herself, patiently and methodically.
As the sun began to set, she hurried back to camp and checked on her charcoal kiln.
"Tomorrow, let’s break down the clay and take a look inside."
The kiln fire had been put out. She needed to break apart the clay covering and check how well the wood inside had transformed into charcoal, but only once the interior had cooled thoroughly. The slower the cooling, the higher the heat the charcoal retains, which is ideal for iron smelting.
… Once she had charcoal and enough iron sand collected, she could finally start making iron.
"Finally, I’ll be able to forge iron…”
Marylia smiled, deciding to go to bed early that night.
The next day: the seventy-fourth day of banishment.
Today, she planned to check on the charcoal before collecting more iron sand.
Feeling a bit anxious, Marylia removed the clay from the top of the kiln and examined the charcoal inside.
… And then—
"Oh dear~ some parts didn’t carbonize properly…”
It seemed some sections hadn’t transformed fully into charcoal.
Checking if charcoal is well-formed is simple: just hold it and snap it in half. Quality charcoal breaks cleanly, and those with radial cracks on the cross-section are particularly good. However, pieces that aren’t fully carbonized won’t break easily. These imperfect pieces could be re-fired next time; if they still don’t carbonize, well… they could always be used as regular firewood.
“Well, I did get a fair amount of charcoal. Hehehe…”
Marylia carefully placed the finished charcoal in a basket and stored it under the roof of the brick drying area.
“… It would be nice to have a little shed to store the charcoal and set up a forge…”
The thought crossed Marylia’s mind, but she let it pass for now. If autumn brought some extra time, she might build a small shed, but for now, it seemed unlikely.
With the charcoal sorted, she immediately resumed collecting iron sand.
As she did yesterday, she poured the sand mixed with iron sand into the chute, collecting the highest purity iron sand possible.
The higher the iron sand’s purity, the more beautifully it sparkled, a black shimmer that was truly striking.
Marylia also continued her water separation process.
She combined the iron sand gathered over the past two days into a single earthenware container, filled it with water, and mixed thoroughly. Then, after allowing the heavier particles to settle, she carefully poured the upper layer into a separate container.
This process effectively separated much of the lighter sand grains from the iron sand. Granted, this method also removed some of the iron sand, but she could add freshly collected sand mixed with iron sand and repeat the process to gradually increase the iron sand’s purity.
… With renewed vigor, Marylia continued her iron sand collection.
Today, she was especially prepared, even bringing a packed lunch: steamed man-eater roots and lightly grilled smoked meat. After eating, she continued working by the riverbank well into the afternoon.
But then…
“… Oh my, the clouds are looking ominous…”
Noticing the sky darkening, Marylia realized that something was finally upon her.
… A storm was coming.
What do you think about this chapter?
